by which people could fulfill it. That is untenable and impermissible. Since matters are as we have stated, and it is known with certainty that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not call them to establish Allah’s oneness by reasoning from accidents, their attachment to substances, and their changes within them—for no one can transmit from him or any of his Companions a single word of this kind, let alone more, whether through mass transmission or individual reports—it is clear that they followed a course contrary to that of these people and took a different path. Had there been among the Companions people who followed these approaches to speculative theology and disputation, they would have been counted among the speculative theologians, and their names would have been transmitted to us, just as the names of their jurists, Quran reciters, and ascetics have been transmitted. Since no such thing has come to light, this shows that this kind of speculative theology had no foundation among them.”

Al-Khattābī said:

“Rather, their conviction of Allah’s oneness was established through several means.

The first:

Prophethood was established through the miracles their Prophet brought, including a Book that confounded them and left them powerless to match it. He challenged them to produce its like, or even a single surah like it,